1. Field
The present invention relates generally to communication systems, and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for providing a service threshold indicator in a wireless communication system employing a broadcast and multicast communication service (BCMCS).
2. Background
Broadcast and multicast services provide point-to-multipoint communication service in a wireless communication system between at least one base transceiver site and a plurality of access terminals that receive the broadcast data within the communication coverage area of the base transceiver site. The broadcast data (i.e., content) transmitted by the base transceiver site to the plurality of access terminals may include, but need not necessarily be limited to, news, movies, sporting events, and the like. The content is typically generated by a content server and is broadcast to the access terminals that subscribe to the service over a forward broadcast shared channel (F-BSCH).
To authenticate the access terminal for receiving the particular content subscribed to, a Broadcast Access Key (BAK) is usually used. The BAK serves as a security association between the content server and the group of access terminals that subscribe to certain services provided by the content server. Typically, a system operator of the wireless communication system will charge the access terminal's user upon obtaining the BAK. If the BAK has a relatively short lifetime (e.g., a few minutes), the access terminal will typically tune to the content on the F-BSCH subsequent to receiving the BAK. In some cases, however, the access terminal may move to a coverage area of the wireless communication system where the radio reception of the access terminal is poor for receiving the content albeit the access terminal may have successfully obtained the BAK over a TCP/IP session. As a result, the access terminal may experience an unacceptable service quality for receiving the content when the access terminal has tuned to the F-BSCH.
In another scenario, the lifetime of the BAK may be longer (e.g., for a month or more) to provide the access terminal with content received from the content server. As long as the BAK is obtained, the access terminal may receive the content over the F-BSCH. Although the access terminal may obtain the content over the F-BSCH, however, the content may become corrupted when the radio reception for the access terminal is deemed poor. As a result, the access terminal may try to decode the corrupted content, thus causing an unnecessary drain on the access terminal's battery.
In yet another scenario, the content may be delivered to a group of access terminals that may “playback” the content at a later time. If an access terminal resides in an area with poor radio reception of the wireless communication system, the received content may become corrupted when being received over the F-BSCH. The access terminal may subsequently request retransmission of the corrupted content at a later time. In such a case, a unicast (i.e., point-to-point) transmission of the content will serve to retransmit the particular content that was not properly received by the access terminal initially. However, if the number of access terminals that desire retransmission of the particular content becomes large, such unicast transmission may undesirably increase the load of the wireless communication system, thereby consuming the system's available resources significantly.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more problems indicated above.